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Young male readers lag behind their female counterparts. According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in 2001, fourth-grade girls in all of the 30 plus participating countries scored higher in reading literacy than fourth-grade boys by a statistically significant amount.

Jon Scieszka, author of children’s books such as The Stinky Cheese Man and the Time Warp Trio series, believes that boys are slower to develop than girls biologically and therefore often have early struggles with reading and writing skills. On his website (www.guysread.com), he also says that the male way of learning, which tends to be action oriented and competitive, works against boys in many classrooms.

Why does this disparity exist? Theories abound. According to Michael W. Smith and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm in Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men (Heinemann, 2002), research on gender and literacy provides some interesting insights:

An area that seems to be critical to stimulating reading success among young male readers is the choice of materials. According to Smith and Wilhelm in Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men, boys differ from girls in the choices they make of reading material.

Boys …

are more inclined to read informational texts, magazines, and newspaper articles.

are more inclined to read graphic novels and comic books.

tend to resist reading stories about girls, whereas girls do not tend to resist reading stories about boys.

like to read about hobbies, sports, and things they might do or be interested in doing.

like to collect things and tend to like to collect series of books.

read less fiction than girls.

tend to enjoy escapism and humor, and some boys are passionate about science fiction or fantasy.

Becoming a reader has little to do with reading difficult books and everything to do with the amount of reading a boy does. Let the boys choose books that are below, even well below their reading level. If they choose books that are very easy, he may be feeling unsure of their abilities and are looking for some reassurance that they can read and enjoy it. This is called regression, and it is perfectly normal. What you don't want to happen is for them to give up on reading altogether for any amount of time; it may be very hard to get them reading again.

As much as possible, let boys choose the books they wants to read for pleasure, it will fight the impression that reading is a chore that is imposed on them. They might choose the same types of books, even the same books over and over again. They are showing signs of regression . They might choose books that make you crazy: books that center on action and even violence, books that are gross and humor that is edgy. They is testing the limits of their freedom and your forbearance. This too is perfectly normal. Try to remember that they are exposed to these types of things from the media all the time, and that they will deal with such things better in context, that is, in a book.

Reading is hard for many boys, but stories are still appealing. Share the reading, so he only has to do half the work. If the reading is too hard but the story is too good, just read it to him. Listening to things being read encourages boys to read.

Even when you are not reading to boys, make sure they see you read, especially you and other students! Men have been trained to read in isolation, either because that is natural for the women who educated us, or because we felt uncomfortable being seen reading. Break the cycle! Men need to Read in front of boys, your own and anyone else's. Boys need to see men with books.

Reading is just part of a rich life of the mind. Show the same respect for that world as you do for the more physical world (sports, outdoors, etc.). Involve yourself and your male students in library and school activities, chess and other challenging mental games, crossword puzzles, and the like. The mind needs to be exercised just like the muscles.

Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his family and his best friend's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade.